


She Changed My Life

by Reitanna



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Enemies, F/M, Male-Female Friendship, Protective Siblings, Step-siblings, escaping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-04-27 09:30:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14422512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reitanna/pseuds/Reitanna
Summary: Somebody asked me why I deleted some chapters of my work “When The Fate Belongs to The Sins”. If my story was very interesting, but you couldn’t read it due to lack of chapters, I am sorry for this, I was on hiatus. I’m going to upload these deleted chapters as a new story. This should have been a remembrance, how Sanosuke and Kaoru became closer to each other, of course as a brother and sister.Why did I make it as a new story? Because my main work contains a lot of memories, and I wrote this remembrance way longer than I planned, I thought that there were too many memories. That’s all.And I’m sorry for errors, I’m not native English speaker. Thank you!





	1. Chapter 1

It was a hot summer day. As usual, Kenshin was called for a serial killer around the Aizu. And he with his friends started a new trip and a new adventure. When they went to a small town, they followed the criminal footsteps, but they were surrounded by a lot of his henchmen. Kenshin and his friends had to hide, because there were too much enemies, they were searched all around the city. When they fled in the forest, they found a cave and decided to rest there and take thoughts of their next moves. The cave was very old and dangerous, ruined by places. While Sanosuke and Kenshin developed the plan, Kaoru decided to find an exit from this tunnel and came closer to the wall.

“Kaoru-dono*, don’t go, it can be very dangerous there!” Kenshin screamed, but it was too late, the girl went a step further, and at the time everything began to tremble. After a moment she felt her legs slipping down.

“Aaah!” Kaoru screamed, realizing that she was falling into the pit.

“Jou-chan*!” Sanosuke ran to the pit. He wanted to catch her hand, but she was too deep, so he leaned more, but the rock split up and he also began to fall.

“Sano! Kaoru-dono!” Kenshin screamed again.

Kaoru fell deeper. Sanosuke tried hard enough to reach and save her so that she wouldn’t get hurt. He caught the girl, hugged her to his chest and let go himself of the bottom, so then they dropped, he would reduce the impact of hit and she would remain unharmed. Kaoru gasped for his intentions, and after a few moments she felt Sanosuke’s back hitting the ground. Everything was covered in darkness.

After a while, Kaoru woke up. She started coughing because it was full of dusts everywhere. She tried to stand up and felt Sanosuke’s arm holding her waist. He was still lying unconscious, he probably got a strong hit, and maybe he even has broken bones.

“Sanosuke, wake up, we stuck in.” Kaoru started to wake him up. “Hey, are you alive?”

“Yeah, sure.” Finally, he responded and took off his hand from her. They both stood up. Sanosuke staggered a little and leaned against the wall.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked.

“Yes, the shoulder hurts a little, but it’s nothing, we need to find a way out of here.”

“It’s too dark here, I can’t see a thing.”

“Stop complaining if you want to get out. You go to that side, and I’ll go here, maybe we’ll find a tunnel somewhere. Just be careful.”

“You too.”

They began to walk along the wall, grabbing each rock around, until they turned the circle and met again. But the cave was very dark and they hit each other’s head. Kaoru screamed.

“Aaaaah!” Sanosuke panicked. “The rock’s screaming!”

“It’s not a rock, it’s me, idiot.” The girl rubbed her forehead. “It really hurts.”

“Have you found something?”

“No, nothing.”

“Then I have no other choice but to use Futae no Kiwami*.”

“But your hand hasn’t healed yet.”

“Listen, do you want to escape or die here from hunger and cold?”

“Escaping looks better.”

“Step away a little or you will get hurt.” Sanosuke drew her back and listened. On some side there was outside of cave and he could hear the wind. “Okay, I found it.” Finally he said. “If I break through this wall, we should be in the daylight. Here I go.” Sanosuke ran up and stretched his fist forward. “Futae no Kiwami!”

Kaoru closed her eyes strongly when split rocks were spread around. She didn’t saw her friend and couldn’t tell he break the wall, but soon the rocks fell on the ground and she saw Sanosuke standing firmly on his feet, the light of the day sparked on him. She ran closer and saw a forest in front of her.

“You did it!” The girl rejoiced. “Now we can look for Kenshin and Yahiko, they’re very worried.”

Sanosuke didn’t say anything, smiled and raised his thumb with a deep breath. Suddenly his hand began to hurt terribly, and he stumbled.

“Shit, it’s worse than I thought.”

“Sanosuke.” Kaoru leaned over to him. “We must to repatch your hand.”

“And what kind of bandage are you going to use, jou-chan?” He asked painfully.

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll come up. There is a river there, you are bleeding badly, you can wash your hand.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He whispered when they went down to the river.

“We have to hurry.” Kaoru said. “Kenshin may be in danger.”

“Are you still worried about him when so much time has passed? When he won all the fights in that long time?” Sanosuke was surprised. “I wouldn’t have been like that if I were you. Ouch, it hurts!” He wailed dipping his hand in the river.

“Of course, Kenshin is very important to me, I know that he will win, but I can’t stop worrying about him.” The girl looked at the clear sky. “Is your hand broke?”

“That’s what love means. When you worrying about him, even if he’s next to you.” The boy pulled his hand out of the water. “It’s no longer bleeding, I think nothing is broken. The most important that we finally went out of that cave, although it’s far more dangerous now.”

“However, you got a few scratches, I can fix it.” Kaoru removed her ribbon from her hair and pulled it apart.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” Sanosuke screamed. “It’s your favorite ribbon!”

“What is more important now, my ribbon or your hand, you idiot?”

“Dunno.” He stood up and came closer to her. “However, I’m not the one you want to care for.”

“It’s not what you think.” The girl smiled. “You have saved me that I will not get hurt when we fell into the pit. Come closer, I’m not Megumi, I can’t patch the wounds normally, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Okay, but don’t regret it later.”

“I’m sure it will not happen.”

Sanosuke sat down next to her shyly. For some reason, it was unpleasant and strange to him that he had to be patched by Kaoru. And when the girl took his hand and began to wrap it with a ribbon, it felt even more unpleasant and he turned away with red face. Kaoru did anything good to him, they always annoyed each other, so now her goodness disturbed him.

“But you do it only because I saved you, right?” Sanosuke asked.

Kaoru smiled again when she saw his reddened face.

“I will never love such a free behavior, a former gangster and man, who’s crazy about fighting, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t take care of him.”

"I’m not crazy, okay? It’s just accidents.”

“Okay, but you also don’t..?”

“No, why you think like that?!”

“I just think why I was separated from Kenshin exactly with you.”

“It’s better than being alone when our enemies are chasing us. Ouch, it hurts, you wrapped it too strong!”

"You are such a big baby, Sanosuke, I can’t understand how you are still alive.”

Sanosuke remained silent for a while.

“You know, you’re just like Megumi now.”

“I’m not like her!” Kaoru disagreed.

“No, but you said what she would probably do. She always complains about my hand, I would like her once to say something good about me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, nobody said good words about me except Kenshin and Sayo. Maybe they are the only ones who trusted me most. You know, you can trust me more than a hundred percent too. I will never be as strong as Kenshin, but in friendship the point is not who’s stronger.”

“I know, Sanosuke, I also trust you.” Kaoru smiled. “You will save me.”

“Sure, why not?”

“I always want to defend myself, but that doesn’t work, I’m not strong enough.”

“You are a woman and women must to be saved, and after that they can show even greater love to the person they love.”

“I never thought you were such a gentleman, Sanosuke. Indeed, you make me feel better when you say that.”

“Maybe we didn’t talk very much. Only you and me.” Sanosuke still sat on the grass embarrassed and flushed. “Now it seems a little strange. We know each other for a long time, but we don’t know things. I swear, this is the weirdest day in my life!”

“You know, I always thought you were braver, but you have a much more beautiful side that I didn’t saw. I believe that you will show me that side and you will always be like this.”

“Is it should be that weird thing?”

“Yes, it’s hiding in you, and I believe that one day you will understand what I am talking about.”

“You are very strange today, jou-chan, maybe you hit your head?”

“No, I feel very well, thank you for protecting me, I didn’t thanked you yet.”

“I think it’s too early to thank.” Sanosuke suddenly rose and draw his eyes on the horizon. "They surround us.”

“What are we going to do?” Kaoru grabbed his hand. At that time, a kunai* flew over the side and got into a tree. The enemies appeared from the density of woods.

“Jou-chan, run, find Kenshin and lead him here.” Sanosuke ordered to Kaoru.

“No, I can’t leave you alone, it’s too much of them to beat.”

“There is nothing that Sanosuke Sagara will fail.”

“No, it’s not a game, we have to run.” She squeezed his arm even more strongly. “I will not go anywhere, I’ll be with you while you’re fighting them.”

“I’m sorry, jou-chan.” Sanosuke pushed her away and jumped to the opponents’ ring.

Kaoru fell down on the ground, and when she looked up, she saw her friend hitting one enemy after another. Where he needed, he bent over, hit the faces or struck men down to the ground with all his strength. But all the time, he was close to Kaoru, so that she doesn’t get hurt. The girl wanted to help, but she didn’t have her shinai*, so she grabbed the branch and joined the fight.

“I told you to run, there are only a small fish here.” Sanosuke told.

“But your hand...”

“Fuck that hand!”

The boy lost his vigilance and got a hit in his face. He stood by the river so he failed to balance and fell down to the water. A strong river current began to carry him away.

“Sanosuke!” Kaoru was scared and without any other choice she jumped down. The river current was very vast and strong, but the girl tried to keep going and look for a friend. But he wasn’t seen anywhere, maybe the current carried him far away, or he sank into the water.

“Sanosuke!” She screamed, although it was very difficult to do, water was getting into her mouth. “Sanosuke, where are you?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -dono – an older version of -san.
> 
> Jou-chan – little missie or missy (Kaoru here).
> 
> Futae no Kiwami – Sanosuke’s martial arts technique, taught to him by the monk, Anji; consists of two rapid punches with the same hand, the first of which weakens the target and the seconds breaks it completely.
> 
> Kunai – throwing knife.
> 
> Shinai – a practice sword made of bamboo splints strapped together.


	2. Chapter 2

The current suddenly hit Kaoru to the stone. The hit was so strong that she screamed from the pain. After that, everything went dark again. The girl woke up only hours after, when she was on the riverbank and the sun has already dried up all her clothes. Sanosuke was leaned down to her.

“Damn it.” He got up. “We’re lost.”

“Ouch, now I really hit my head.” The girl complained.

“Are you very hurt?”

“Just a little.”

“Good.”

“No, it’s not good. We’re lost, I’ve ruined everything.”

“What are you saying?”

“If I didn’t divert your attention, you wouldn’t fall into the river and we wouldn’t be lost. As always, something happens when I’m trying to help.”

“Don’t think about it, now we have to find a shelter, it’s about to rain. If not, we’ll get wet again. Besides, the sky will get dark very soon, it’s too dangerous to be in forest, wild animals can attack us.”

Kaoru looked at the sky and saw the impending dark clouds, although the sun was shining in front of them. She tried to stand up, but suddenly she gasped.

“Ouch, my foot, it hurts a lot.”

“You are such a troublemaker, jou-chan*.” Sanosuke said seriously, came closer and hugged her by the waist. “Go here, if we don’t hide, we’ll catch a cold.”

Kaoru thought that he would simply hold her and go to look for shelter, but she was surprised when Sanosuke picked her up on his arms.

“Faster, closer to the trees, it will not rain on us so much.” He said and ran further.

After a few minutes, the sun completely descended and small rain drops began to fall. Sanosuke stopped at the tree to rest, got out from his jacket and put it on Kaoru’s head like an umbrella.

“If it start getting worse, you don’t get a cold. Don’t worry about me, I experienced much more in my childhood when I had no home for a while.”

The girl wanted to say something, but the boy picked her up and began to run again. Wind and rain continued to grow, and soon lightning struck and the thunder blew in the sky.

“Damn, I can’t find anything.” Sanosuke murmured. “There must to be a shelter somewhere, don’t people live here? Gosh, you’re heavy, jou-chan.”

“Am I fat?!” Kaoru got angry.

After a few minutes they finally found what they needed. It was an old hut with a holey roof.

“It’s better than nothing.” Sanosuke sighed and quickly ran inside, because the rain has already become stronger. He let go of Kaoru and laid down on the floor. “It would be even better if we had fire.”

“Yes.” The girl agreed. “God, we get wet, your jacket didn’t help me at all. Let’s have a look at this house, we should find something, maybe a few old sheets or clothes.”

“It seems that no one lives here for a long time, do you think that you can find something good?”

“It’s better than doing anything.” Kaoru cut off and Sanosuke heard her moving steps. He lay on the dirty floor for a while, his eyes were closed. After a few minutes, something fell beside him.

“Here.” Kaoru said. “I found a futon* in the corner, someone spent a night here.”

“It seems to me that we will also have to be here overnight.”

“Okay then, don’t lay here, help me to clean this place, it’s full of dusts, I’m not going to sleep in such a place.”

“First of all, I’m not laying, I’m resting, because I carried you all the way.” Sanosuke disagreed. “Secondly, why we need to clean if we don’t live here? And thirdly, doesn’t your leg hurt?”

“Thank you, I’m better.” Kaoru calmed herself down. “I couldn’t run yet, but it’s nothing, we escaped from our enemies already.”

Sanosuke finally got up. At that time, the lightning lightened their faces.

“Yes, maybe the weather will not change for a long time, we have to wait until tomorrow, and then to look for Kenshin and Yahiko. Let’s get started.”

And they made a little cleaning of their temporary house. Sanosuke found a furnace and firewood in the kitchen, so they could warm up a bit and dry their clothes, because it was very cold with the wet ones.

“We were lucky.” Sanosuke hung his jacket over the fire. “We’re missing only a hot meal now, I’m hungry, I even can eat your cooked food.”

“It’s not funny, Sanosuke, I’m going to die from hunger too.”

They were silent for a while.

“Don’t you going to undress your kimono*?” Sanosuke asked. “You also need to dry it.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to see me naked!” Kaoru blushed.

“You don’t have anything under your kimono?” The boy stupidly stared at her.

“It’s just underwear, you fool!”

They kept quiet for a moment. The rain and the thunder were heard behind the window. The lightning flashed in the sky and it seemed like it would never end.

“Okay, I need to dry my pants and it dry up faster when I remove it, so... you can undress your kimono, but while our clothes are wet, we’ll sit here like this.” He put the futon in front of furnace that Kaoru found, and sat down on the edge, turning his back. “You sit up like this, then we’ll be back to the back and we will not see each other.”

“Okay, I’ll do it, but don’t try to turn around!”

“Same for you, Tanuki* girl!”

“Tori-atama!*”

Kaoru growled and sat down. First she waited until Sanosuke began undressing, then she started too. The room was filled with unpleasant silence and slipping clothing sound. After a few moments just silence left.

“Maybe it’s not that bad?” Suddenly, Sanosuke spoke.

“Not that bad?” Kaoru didn’t understand. “We were separated from friends, we were injured, the enemy’s henchmen were attacked us, we are almost drowned, and now we are sitting half naked, because of the rain. Can you see something good?”

“After all, we’ve stayed alive, it’s most important.” He was silent for an hour. “Damn, is there something to eat?”

“You can search if you want, but nothing is eatable here.”

“My clothes are dry already, I will go to the attic. The door is locked, but I can easily break it, the lock is very weak. But before that check your clothes, I will not go anywhere until you are naked.”

Kaoru’s hand reached the kimono to check. It wasn’t completely dry, but the girl dressed, because she didn’t want Sanosuke to wait longer.

“I’m fine, you can go, I’ll try to prepare a bed for the night somehow.”

Sanosuke quickly slid in his pants, went out into the hallway and climbed up the stairs. Kaoru was thinking about what to do, because there was only one futon here. She didn’t want to sleep with Sanosuke, but didn’t want him to sleep on the floor too. Besides, there was a lack of blankets and sheets, a futon wasn’t enough for them. Or maybe Sanosuke will find something in the attic?

The girl checked the barely flammable fire, tried to make it bigger but it was unsuccessful, the fire completely gone. Then she carried futon into the room. It was a place far away from the outside door, which wasn’t really there, it was a hole in the doorway. Later Sanosuke came with some pieces of fabric in his hands.

“It’s not blankets, I removed it from the windows, but it’ll be all right for you.”

“Thank you, Sanosuke.” The girl thanked. “Wait a minute, how about you?”

“I don’t think I’ll fall asleep, maybe enemies are looking for us.”

“In such weather?”

“Maybe they stopped searching, but at any time the rain can stop, I have to be sharp and protect you.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?” He was confused. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“No, but... why do you protect me?”

“Because Kenshin will kill me if something happens to you.”

“No, he will not do that, tell me a serious reason.”

“There is no serious reason.”

“Don’t lie, I know, you have promised him to protect me, if something happens to him or he will not be near, right?”

“I don’t know, it’s more like a silent promise. When you don’t say anything, but your friend always knows what you will do, because he fully trusts you.”

“But you don’t do it just because of him?”

“I’m not as heartless as I look like, jou-chan. Go to bed, today was a very hard day, you look tired. Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay, but promise that you will sleep at least a little.”

“Fine, go and don’t think about me.”

Kaoru watched him for a minute, then took all the pieces of fabric she found around and got ready to sleep. Sanosuke sat down on a wooden floor in the interior, where there was no door, because he needed to see the yard. The sky was already much darker, lightning was clearly visible. Kaoru laid the futon a little closer to Sanosuke that she could clearly see him, draw near and put a blanket on him. The boy turned around surprised.

“It’s not warm outside, don’t freeze.”

And she went away, before Sanosuke said something. He clutched a blanket for a while, then he relaxed and rolled in it, closed his eyes ant leaned his head to the wall. The girl didn’t know how long it was, and he sat still. But he didn’t sleep, his ears catched every slight sound. But Kaoru didn’t want to sleep.

“Sanosuke?” She spoke softly.

“What?” He still didn’t move.

“I just check if you don’t sleep.”

“No.”

“You know, when I was a little girl, I was very afraid of lightning. Then I cried a lot, and my father always placed me on his lap and pressed my head to his chest. Then I felt safe and didn’t afraid of anything.”

“Really? You were afraid of lightning?” Sanosuke laughed. “How stupid!”

“I was very small, it’s normal!” Kaoru rushed. “Please don’t say that you didn’t afraid of anything in your childhood.”

“My fear was completely different from yours.”

“Please tell me.”

“It will not be so funny.”

“You say that, because your fear seems much more important than mine.” She repulsed.

“Because it is!” He clasped his hands on his chest.

“Don’t be so selfish and tell me.”

“My fears are not your business.”

“But I told you my fear.”

“I didn’t beg you to tell it. You should sleep at least a little.”

Kaoru sighed, didn’t say anything again. Sanosuke for some time was watching the rain, that hasn’t stopped, but he didn’t intend to sleep, and felt that friend doesn’t sleep too. Maybe she was worried that he didn’t tell about his fear?

“It was my father.” The boy said suddenly.

Kaoru raised her head with surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“My fear was my father.”

The girl was shocked. Sanosuke didn’t tell her about his fear not because his fear seemed more important, and he was afraid that she would laugh when she find out that it was just a stupid fear. He did it because she reminded him his fear and also hurt his feelings by talking about her father. That’s why he needed time to think off of saying things.

“I’m so sorry, Sanosuke.” She said silently. “I didn’t think your fear was so serious. My fear compared to yours is just a little thing, if I hurt you somehow...”

“It’s nothing, jou-chan, your fear is not stupid.”

“But why you were afraid of your father?” She was worried.

Sanosuke was silent for a minute. Kaoru couldn’t see his face in the dark and couldn’t guess what he feels now, but patiently waited until he began to talk. The lightning struck the floor and the girl saw a friend sitting with his lowered head. One of his legs was stretched, and the other was bent. He held his hand on the knee.

“It’s not like I didn’t love my father.” Finally, Sanosuke spoke with a husky voice. “I always loved and revered him, because I always felt safe next to him. He cared for me when my mother wasn’t near, he carried me on his arms and did everything that a true father had to do, but... I was afraid of him deep inside me. He was the same as I am now. He had a hot temperament, you know. I have seen many times him fighting with other drunkards, how he screamed on them. Being drunk, he hit me for no reason, and later... later he just apologized. Maybe it’s not a big reason to be afraid of him, but I was a small innocent child and I didn’t understand what’s happening in the world. My father was very angry at the slightest mistake I made, but I was glad I had him. He taught me many lessons, if not he, I wouldn’t have become a man.”

“But what happened to your father, Sanosuke?”

“He didn’t die, he’s still alive, but I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. I left my family when I was nine years old. I had a dream, I wanted to change the world, to destroy killing and violence. Captain Sagara did the same, so I was especially admired for him. I wanted to join Sekihoutai* and help in changing the world, but when I told it to my father he was very furious. He said that it’s impossible to change the world, and if I join Sekihoutai, I will not be his son anymore.”

“But it’s so sad.” Kaoru got scared.

“Yeah...” The boy said slowly. “Then I decided to leave my family. I was a member of Higashidani* family, but when I left I became a nameless person. Captain Sagara allowed me to choose his surname, so now I am Sagara.”

“I can admit that at first I thought Captain Sagara was your father.” Kaoru was embarrassed. “You talked so well about him...”

“It was partly true. He took care of me as his child just like my true father. But while I was with my new family, I missed the old days, I was thinking about my mother, who may cried for me. And about a younger sister who was sorry for me.”

“You have a sister?”

“Yeah, she’s three years younger than me. Then she was the most important person in my life. We’ve always been together, but I left her and hurt her hardest.”

“It’s not your fault Sanosuke, your father said those terrible words and forced you to come out. He didn’t love you enough if he abandoned you as a son just because you had a dream.”

“Or maybe he was just stubborn. I didn’t blame him, he wanted to raise me up, but I didn’t listen to him because I was also stubborn and the same kind of temperament.” He remained silent for a while, as if he was afraid to say something. “And now... now I’m guessing... are you afraid of me.”

“What?! I’m not afraid of you at all!” Kaoru shook her head.

“Tell me the truth, jou-chan. Sometimes it seems to you that I don’t feel anything, only the desire to fight, and when it comes to the slightest reason, I never miss it, that I never care about what others think about me and I don’t think about others. You told me earlier that I’m crazy about fighting, but you think I hiding something more beautiful and better inside me. But if you get frustrated when you find out that it’s not like that?”

Kaoru got up quietly, came closer to Sanosuke and gently hugged him. He had to blush or as usual push her away as far as he could, but he couldn’t for some reason. He just sat confused and didn’t know what to do.

“No!” The girl suddenly started to cry. “You are fighting for your family, not only because you want it for yourself! You are fighting that you don’t lose us as you lost Captain Sagara! You are fighting for our lives just like Kenshin, I apologize for the terrible words I’ve said before, I never wanted to hurt you, but today I did it twice!”

She began to sob on the blanket she had given him.

“Hey, keep yourself together, jou-chan.” Sanosuke grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away. “Listen, it’s not your fault that I didn’t tell you about myself before, you didn’t know things. Some things I just want to throw away, so I never talk about that. Calm down and finally go to sleep, you’re so sensitive today.”

Kaoru breathed several times deeply, trying not to cry even more.

“No, I will not fall asleep. I want... I want you... to hug me.”

“Nani*?!” The boy was surprised. “I’m not Kenshin that you want to hug me!”

“No, I want YOU to hug ME! I want to feel the brother’s arms. You have always been to me as a brother I never had. I always feel safe when you are near, even if Kenshin’s somewhere else and... and...”

However, Sanosuke didn’t wait until she said something more and hugged her hard, pressed her head to his chest, as her father did. Kaoru was a little surprised, but it was very good for her to feel his strong embrace. It seemed to her that nothing could happen at the moment, her tears fell on her cheeks.

“Really.” The boy smiled. “You are very strange today, Kaoru.”

And he stopped suddenly. The girl raised her head.

“You said that. You’ve said my name. You never call me by my name, why you did it now?”

“I just... I felt like I had to do it.”

“Why didn’t you done it before?”

“I don’t know. I call you jou-chan from the very beginning.”

“Now it’s the feeling that you are my real brother. And you finally show your gentle side. I will never forget this day.”

“Me too. And now you can sleep peacefully, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Of course, but can I sleep next to you?”

“If that makes you feel safer.”

Kaoru rejoiced, went to take the futon and laid it near to Sanosuke.

“You can sit on the edge if you want.” She said. “You know, I always love to hear how it rains, it calms me and I fall asleep faster, so I want to be closer to the sky. Didn’t I bother you when I’ll be so close to you?”

“Of course not, why should you? We’re siblings, right?”

Sanosuke sat on the edge of the futon and put on a blanket. The girl clung to his side and hugged his arm. The boy stared at the sky and enjoyed her proximity. This night was special to him. He had a bond with a girl who hadn’t been so important to him until now. He looked at his tied hand with Kaoru’s favorite ribbon and sighed deeply.

Kaoru fell asleep quickly, Sanosuke could hear her smooth and calm breathing. He tried to stay as sharp as he could, although he felt very tired and his eyes get closed. However, his body had to rest and he didn’t even felt how he fell asleep. After a couple of hours, the boy woke up, but it was still dark and calm around, the rain had already stopped. After that, Sanosuke just snoozed, was awakened, and then fell asleep again. The night looked endlessly long, it began to annoy him, he couldn’t sleep for long because of enemies.

Later he felt that he wanted to take a leak and tried to stand, but Kaoru squeezed his hand even stronger.

“Gosh, why do I have to piss in the middle of the night?” Sanosuke was angry at himself. “Jou-chan, I’ll come back very soon, just wait me here.”

“Kenshin...” Kaoru murmured. “Please, kiss me... come closer...”

‘No way, don’t say it’s that kind of dream!’ The boy thought, and suddenly he felt Kaoru pulling him closer. Unbalanced, he fell straight to the girl.

“Kenshin...” She murmured again. “You’re so warm...”

She came closer and suddenly kissed him. Sanosuke gasped and wanted to push her away for a million kilometers, but he couldn’t. If Kaoru wake up right now, she will surely call him a pervert.

‘I never expected that my first kiss will be like that. And exactly with jou-chan.’ He thought.

Kaoru pulled her lips from his. Sanosuke tried to take his hand out of her strong arms, but he failed, she hugged him even more, her legs slipped slowly between his legs.

“Ahhh!” Sanosuke tightly closed his eyes and tried to hold the loud moan, but the girls’ hands began to slip through his nude chest and it became increasingly difficult to hold, her moves were very gentle and effective.

“Kenshin...” Kaoru whispered. “You are so shy...”

Sanosuke felt that her fingers slipped lower and lower, from chest to abdomen, then to his pants strap. That’s it, when she throws it away, he will no longer be able to hold...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jou-chan – little missie or missy (Kaoru here).
> 
> Futon – a thin Japanese mattress that is rolled up for the day.
> 
> Kimono – the full-length, robe-like, traditional Japanese garment, worn mostly by women in the Meiji era.
> 
> Tanuki – a raccoon.
> 
> Tori-atama – rooster-head.
> 
> Sekihoutai (Red Vanguard) – was a group of Japanese political extremists in the Bakumatsu, the Japanese civil war in the 1860s. The term also refers to a right-wing extremist group that operated in the 1980s.
> 
> Higashidani – Sanosuke’s birth surname.
> 
> Nani? – What?


	3. Chapter 3

Sanosuke woke up. He still sat on the edge of the futon*, Kaoru calmly slept hugging his arm. It was just a dream, of course, nothing really happened and couldn’t happen.

‘Damn those dirty dreams.’ The boy thought. ‘She is such a young and innocent girl, how in my dream she turned into such a pervert? Shit, I really need to do something, I’m going crazy from this night.’

He carefully pulled his hand out of Kaoru’s embrace, and when her head carelessly hit the futon, she woke up.

“Sanosuke?”

“It’s all right, I’ll come back soon.”

"Where are you going?”

“To take a leak.” He murmured.

“I’m sorry I asked.” She blushed.

Sanosuke didn’t say anything and quietly left. When he returned, Kaoru was up from the bed.

“You know, I thought...” She said. “I’ve been sleeping enough, now it’s time for you. You also have to rest.”

“It’s no longer raining, enemies can find us at any time.”

“But I can stand by.”

“Well, okay.” The boy breathed deeply. “But if you see something suspicious, wake me up right away.”

Kaoru sat down where Sanosuke was sitting before, and he crawled down under the blanket. Probably he was very tired, because when the girl looked at him after a few minutes, he was already sleeping deeply. Only now she realized that she had never looked at him when he’s sleeping. Sanosuke looked like an innocent baby and she could watch hours for hours at him. She didn’t even notice when began to dawn, and it was getting colder when the sun rises.

Kaoru covered her friend more, not wanting him to wake up from the cold. Besides, he watched her for so long, now he deserved a long rest. But soon the girl heard strange sounds, and when it became louder, she understood that it’s voices. At the same time, a burning arrow got in the wall.

“Aaa!” Kaoru screamed and began to shake Sanosuke. “Wake up, they found us!”

Sanosuke woke up, but his friend didn’t stop shaking him so he grabbed her shoulder and quickly got up from the bed. He saw a lot of glowing fiery lights from the depths of the forest.

“Shit, they surround us from everywhere, when they came out?”

“I awoke you as soon as I saw.”

At that time, a cluster of arrows hit the hut.

“They can’t burn the house, it’s wet from the rain, but we can’t stay here for longer. They are trying to kill us, and it’s more effective with the burning arrows.”

“But how will we escape when they surround us?”

“Let me think, the way out should be.” He looked carefully from the edge of the door. “They get closer, but we can try to get out from that window.” Sanosuke whispered. “There are many bushes here, it will be a good cover for us. Wait here, I gonna check if is possible to open the window.”

The boy slowly moved to the window and tried to open it. Kaoru thought that he wouldn’t succeed, but after a few seconds, she saw the planks turning into smithereens, silently, almost without sound, as if something had just cracked.

“Wow, I didn’t know that you learned to use Futae no Kiwami* so quiet.” Kaoru said when friend showed her to get closer.

“It’s just an old wood, it’s completely different from stones. That’s why it went silently and didn’t hurt my hand. Okay, I’ll climb the first and check if it’s safe. Don’t go far from the window, I have to see you. They shouldn’t see us.”

Sanosuke got out very carefully. It was not difficult because the window was very down, the old hut was very tumbledown. He hid behind the bush and looked around, but he only saw the lights of the fire, and couldn’t see anybody. However, he still was worried, because the arrow could have to fly at him at any time.

Suddenly, Sanosuke heard a scream and saw a man attacking Kaoru. The girl picked up something from the floor and hit the opponent, but it didn’t help and he hit her to the face. Kaoru screamed again and fell on the floor.

“Jou-chan*!” Sanosuke was frightened and wanted to help, but at that moment a burning arrow got in his shoulder. The boy felt an incredible burning pain and stumbled.

“And what do we have here?” The man who hit Kaoru was smiling. “A woman? Maybe we’ll have some fun, guys?” He said to some friends when they entered the hut, and touched the girl’s cheek.

“Maybe she’s still an innocent girl, still so young.” Another man said and laughed loudly.

“Let me go!” Kaoru tried to resist. “I can defend myself!” She got away and stood ready to fight. At that time she saw Sasosuke, who had fallen down on the ground, with an arrow in his shoulder.

“The woman can defend herself, huh?” The man sneered. "We’ll see. Get ready, your friend will not help you, he’s dead.”

“Sanosuke is not dead... he can’t be dead...”

“Don’t be afraid, you will soon be with him.”

The man pushed her on the floor, others rushed to undress her kimono*.

“Sanosuke, help me! Help me!” Kaoru called him with all her voice. She knew she wanted too much, he was wounded and unable to help her now after all, but she prayed that everything would be fine and he would come.

And suddenly she heard someone screaming. At that time, the men’s hands released her. Kaoru lifted her head and saw Sanosuke standing unsteady on his feet, holding his hand on his shoulder, which still had an arrow. He breathed heavily and deeply, his face was very angry and threatening.

“You..!” Sanosuke screamed. “How dare you?!” And pulled the arrow out.

Kaoru didn’t even understand when he started to move. His moves were incredibly fast, she had never seen it before. The anger gave him special power that he couldn’t have due to the wound. The boy suddenly jumped ahead, grabbed one man to the clothes, hit him to the face. Others wanted to help him, but Sanosuke’s fists laid down them on the ground. But it wasn’t done, there were a lot of enemy henchmen waiting with the arrows, who had hoped their comrades would go out when they kill the target. Some of them who were closest to the the door, shot arrows to Sanosuke, but he fell down, rolled on the floor, came closer and kicked them to the legs. They fell on the ground like bowling pins.

Kaoru started to scream again. The wooden hut floor began to burn from the burning arrows.

“Sanosuke!”

“I never wanted to fight this way.” He said silently, looking at his defeated opponents. “I didn’t want to fight at all, you want. You have made a fighter from me, all of you who stand against me. I fought to forget the pain I suffered because of people like you! That’s why I had to fight!” His voice became stronger. “But now... now I’m fighting for my new family that I will not lose...”

Sanosuke approached Kaoru and lifted her from the floor. She was shocked. But not because of what these men tried to do with her (she firmly believed that Sanosuke would save her), but because of how he saved her. He did this not only with his fists, but with his soul. With his strong and unbroken soul.

“Sanosuke, you’re hurt.” Kaoru was worried.

“It doesn’t matter. Didn’t they hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay, let’s get out of here.”

And he ran from the burning hut with the girl on his hands. Unnoticed by the enemies, like a silent shadow in the night.

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Futon – a thin Japanese mattress that is rolled up for the day.
> 
> Futae no Kiwami – Sanosuke’s martial arts technique, taught to him by the monk, Anji; consists of two rapid punches with the same hand, the first of which weakens the target and the seconds breaks it completely.
> 
> Jou-chan – little missie or missy (Kaoru here).
> 
> Kimono – the full-length, robe-like, traditional Japanese garment, worn mostly by women in the Meiji era.


End file.
